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On- and off-responses in the photopic electroretinogram in complete-type congenital stationary night blindness

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Abstract

We examined the on- and off-responses of the photopic electroretinogram in patients with complete congenital stationary night blindness. Standard flash electroretinograms as well as those produced in a ganzfeld modified for long-duration light stimuli (500 msec) permitted the separation of on- and off-responses in four patients and four normal subjects. The amplitude and latency of the electroretinogram on- response (a- and b-waves) and off-response (d-wave) in addition to the oscillatory potentials of the off-response in normal subjects and patients were compared. The abnormal on-response was demonstrated in all the patients, and the offresponse with its oscillatory potentials were preserved. We showed that the second portion of the off-response (of inner retinal origin) is normal. If congenital stationary night blindness is a defect of depolarizing bipolar cells, these results preclude input of the depolarizing bipolar cells and support the hyperpolarizing bipolar cells as the cellular origin of the off-response electroretinogram.

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Abbreviations

CSNB:

congenital stationary night blindness

DBC:

depolarizing bipolar cell

HBC:

hyperpolarizing bipolar cells

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Quigley, M., Roy, MS., Barsoum-Homsy, M. et al. On- and off-responses in the photopic electroretinogram in complete-type congenital stationary night blindness. Doc Ophthalmol 92, 159–165 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02583287

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